Life is day-to-day struggle, with little future thinking. The children, rather than seeking to dream of a better life, are beggars and thieves. Yet Belmonte also presents a community that lacks the desperation and depression and low self-esteem Lewis says are endemic to poverty. The culture of Naples, and the pride and the humor of the residents in their struggles belie the simplicity of Lewis' generalized assumptions. The poor struggle, but not necessarily with the bitterness and sense of deprivation assumed by Lewis.

The main reason for this may be that Belmonte chronicles a rural, almost pre-capitalist culture where there are...

As the culture does not assume that anyone who tries hard can improve their economic lot, poverty is not stigmatized and regarded with shame. Thus, Belmonte's anthropology raises the intriguing possibility that the elements of the culture of poverty described by Lewis, especially its psychological elements, are created not by poverty, but by the presence of middle-class capitalist ideology that anyone can better his or her circumstances in a land of limitless opportunities.
Works Cited

Belmonte, Thomas. The Broken Fountain. New York: Columbia University Press, 2004.